The taste of the pudding is in its eating. The old saying is applicable to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's remarks made during her interactions with Indian leaders here, according to two former Indian High Commissioners to Bangladesh.

Buddhist leaders yesterday demanded removal of the Cox's Bazar superintendent of police and immediate action against him for his alleged inaction during the recent atrocities on the minority community in Ramu.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday called on Vietnamese entrepreneurs to be partners of business activities by increasing their trade and investment in Bangladesh. She assured them of providing special consideration.

Terming the just-concluded India visit by opposition leader Khaleda Zia important, ruling Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam yesterday said he hoped the BNP chief would keep the promises she had made during this visit.

BNP standing committee member Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman in a clarification to the report “It was a mistake” run in this newspaper yesterday said his statement on BNP Senior Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman has been “wrongly quoted”.

Internet speculation was circulating Saturday after a BBC news programme embroiled in the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal aired a report in which two men claimed they had been abused by a top politician.

Editorial

For the last five years, The Daily Star in collaboration with the Standard Chartered Bank has been honouring budding talents in the fields of arts and culture like, lyric, cinema and photography. This year's theme was “Celebrating Youth of Bangladesh." The spirit of the evening was well encapsulated in the rendition of classical music by two famous Indian classical artists.

Sports

There were mixed performances from the national players on the second day of the second round of the National Cricket League in different venues across the country yesterday. Khulna skipper Abdur Razzak continued his good run with yet another five-wicket haul as he played a crucial role in bowling out Rangpur at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna. The same match, however, saw star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan struggle on his return to the longer format of the game. While he did pick up three wickets in the innings, he was caught behind for 25.

Grand Master Enamul Hossain Rajib added a new feather to Bangladesh's chess as he became undefeated champion in the Vizag Grandmasters International Open Chess Tournament in Andhra Pradesh of India yesterday.

Sport in a poverty-stricken nation like Bangladesh throws up many inspirational stories of rags to riches, but for one tale of success there are many more examples of crushing poverty destroying dreams. Bijoy Kumar Sarker's tale falls somewhere in between, and so is perhaps more tragic, as he faces the possibility of his ambitions remaining unfulfilled after having come so close to fruition.

Abahani's new Iranian coach Ardeshir Pournemat Vodehi wants to build a side around its current crop of players that will be tactically proficient enough to win difficult matches in their bid to retain the professional league title. The former Asian Football Confederation (AFC) coaching instructor, who arrived in Dhaka on Friday night, said he follows the philosophy of Barcelona. “Control the ball, control everything -- that would be my philosophy here with Abahani,” said the Iranian after having a first look at his charges at the club premises yesterday.

Bangladesh's ace golfer Siddikur Rahman was staring at yet another ignominious end to a prestigious event as he was placed 77th out of 78 participants at the end of the third round of WGC-HSBC Champions in Dongguan, China yesterday.

Former captain Sunil Gavaskar said on Saturday that India will have an edge over England in the upcoming Test series if they manage to win the first match, but added that the hosts' batting line-up looks shaky.

Gilles Simon thrilled home fans by reaching the semifinals of the Paris Masters on Friday as he beat Czech fifth seed Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-4 -- only to find himself next facing the surprise packet of the week.

Alex Doolan stroked his highest first class score as Australia A's middle-order coped comfortably with South Africa's pace attack and moved into a 352-run first innings lead by the close of the second day of their match on Saturday.

A 20-member squad of the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) Junior XI, along with officials, reached Nepal yesterday morning to take part in the 2nd Safal Pokhara Gold Cup tournament. The team is staying at the Moon Light Resort in Pokhara.

Former Dutch international midfielder Edgar Davids demanded on Saturday that Dutch legend Johann Cruyff apologise over his alleged remark a year ago the only reason he was on the board of Ajax football club was because he was black.

Several English Premier League referees are debating over whether to boycott matches involving Chelsea in the wake of the club alleging fellow referee Mark Clattenburg made racist remarks in last Sunday's game with Manchester United according to former referee Clive Wilkes.

Zimbabwe has dissolved the national football team for failing to qualify for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations as a major match-fixing scandal still overshadows their performance, an official said Friday.

Business

In Hanoi yesterday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina proposed that Vietnamese entrepreneurs increase trade and investment in Bangladesh. She noted that her country had a vibrant business sector which Hanoi could derive advantage from, to the mutual benefit of the two countries.

Three out of every four smartphones sold in the third quarter featured Google Inc's Android mobile operating system, as the gap between Google and Apple Inc-based phones widened further, according to a new research report.

The United States added 171,000 jobs in October, far more than expected, though the jobless rate rose as the labour force expanded, the government said Friday in a crucial look at the economy four days ahead of the presidential election.

Metropolitan

Home Minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir yesterday said the government would collect all the evidence related to the killing of the four national leaders and bring to trial the main perpetrators and those working behind the scenes.

Bangladeshis living in the Sandy-hit areas in the USA have been asked to contact two officials of the Bangladesh embassy in Washington and Bangladesh Consulate General in New York for any consular or urgent need.

Vice Chairman of Bangladesh Bar Council Khandker Mahbub Hossain yesterday demanded immediate cancellation of the amendments to the bar council act, saying the changes stripped the body's power of enrolling law practitioners.

Questioning the neutrality of the Anti- Corruption Commission (ACC), BNP standing committee member Barrister Moudud Ahmed yesterday said the ACC has turned into a "government agent" and doubted whether it has the courage to bring graft allegations against a minister.

Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury will pay a five-day official visit to India from November 6 to 10 to discuss with Indian government leaders ways to increase bilateral cooperation in the fields of agriculture and food security.

Noted road safety campaigner and actor Ilias Kanchan yesterday renewed his request to the government to declare October 22 as National Road Safety Day, which his organisation Nirapad Sarak Chai has been observing since 1998.

Awami League Central Working Committee, the highest decision making body of the ruling party, will sit on November 16 to discuss its organisational matters and the country's latest socio-political situation.

The Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (CVASU) authorities extended the deadline from October 31 to November 7 for admission test registration for first year honours course (2012-2013).

A 13-year-old schoolgirl was abducted allegedly by a local Jubo League activist in Luxmipur district on Friday. The victim hailed from Tumchur village. Following the incident, victim's uncle filed a case accusing the Jubo League activist Shourav Hossain Shahed and 25 others, said Golan Sarowar, officer in-charge at Sadar police station. A gang of 20/25 led by Masum, Monir, Zabed and Shourav in 10 motorbikes and a microbus stormed into the residence of the girl and picked her up at gunpoint. Police were raiding different areas to arrest the accused, said the OC.

Fishes worth Tk one lakh of a pond were poisoned to death at Dhaphat in Dupchacia upazila on Friday night. Locals said the authorities of local Dudu Dawan Foundation leased the pond from the municipality for fish cultivation. Officials of the foundation said those, who failed to take lease of the pond, might have poisoned the water of the pond.

A university student drowned in Fulzor River at Ghurka in Raiganj upazila on Friday night. The victim, Sujan Kumar Paul, 22, son of Suresh Chandra Paul of Ghurka Beltalapalpara, was a fourth year student at Mymensingh Agricultural University. Family members said, Sujan went to the river to immerse Laxmi idol and drowned. He could not be traced till filing of this report at 6:00pm yesterday. Abdul Hamid.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would be on course for a landslide victory over Mitt Romney, with a lead five points larger than Barack Obama's, if she was on the ballot paper instead of the president in Tuesday's US election, according to a poll.

Not long after taking a few seconds of silence for those affected by Superstorm Sandy, Rudy Giuliani began ripping into President Barack Obama on Friday while speaking at major campaign event for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in Ohio.

The lower Manhattan skyline lit up early yesterday morning for the first time since superstorm Sandy slammed into the US Northeast while thousands of storm victims in New Jersey and elsewhere remained in the dark and awaiting disaster relief.

The government's search for a 'win-win' solution to the conflict between the two groups follows a new outbreak of violence last week in which attacks by Buddhist mobs left 89 dead and forced more than 28,000 to flee their homes.

India has said the UN Security Council in its present structure is “completely out of tune” with global realities and serves “no one's purpose”, asserting that an expansion in the 15-member body should have permanent representation from Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Sonia Gandhi, chief of India's ruling Congress party, and Premier Manmohan Singh were set to speak at a massive rally today to whip up support for the scandal-tainted government ahead of 2014 elections.

A super PAC ad running Ohio hopes it can woo African American voters with a new ad suggesting their loyalty to the Democratic Party is misguided, and that they should vote Republican because Abraham Lincoln was a Republican, too.

Arts & Entertainment

All roads led to Shaheed Suhrawardy National Indoor Stadium yesterday. Eager crowds flocked to the fifth award ceremony of “Celebrating Life”, a Standard Chartered Bank-The Daily Star tie up to award talents in the sphere of photography, lyrics and film. This year's theme was “Celebrating Youth of Bangladesh.”

The founder of Samdani Art Foundation & Dhaka Art Summit and the Managing Director of Golden Harvest Group, Rajeeb Samdani has been appointed as the founding committee member of the South Asian Acquisition Committee (SAAC) of Tate Museum United Kingdom, according to a press release. This is the first time in the history of Bangladesh that an individual from the country has been invited by an international museum to hold such a prestigious position.

It was a birthday Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan had to wait for a year. And she finally got it when she was honoured by France with a prestigious civilian award for her contribution to art on her 39th birthday on November 1.

OP-ED

Khaleda Zia, the leader of the opposition, is in Delhi on an official visit. She was invited by the government of India and accorded a red carpet welcome. Besides calling on the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and having lunch with him, she was also hosted by the leader of the Indian opposition Ms. Shushma Swaraj of BJP.

More than 350 top cadres of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will gather for the seventh and last time to finalise the leadership succession plan to be adopted at the 18th Party Congress, which opens next Thursday.

Domestic violence is a less talked about form of repression that women suffer without ever protesting because it takes place away from public view. Women consider marriage as a bond that must be protected at all costs. In most cases, they go to unbelievable lengths to make that relationship durable in the face of all odds and atrocities that come their way. A broken marriage is very often attributed to the woman's failings. Most worryingly, women endure this mental and physical torture of husbands without uttering a word of protest because society's attitude towards women has never been anything very assuring.

In what new ways do you intend to rectify the inequalities in the workplace, specifically regarding females making only 72% of what their male counterparts earn?" a woman asked Mitt Romney during the second US presidential debate. Governor Romney's response, which sparked the maximum number of comments and tweets in this election season, was: "We took a concerted effort to go out and find women who had backgrounds that could be qualified to become members of our cabinet. I went to a number of women's groups and said, can you help us find folks? And I brought us whole binders full of -- of women." Romney's claim being that he made a proactive endeavour to find and hire qualified women during his tenure as governor of Massachusetts.